Monday, November 17, 2008

Seven things

While I was gone, Twinks asked me to do a meme. I'm supposed to list seven random things, but since I'm contrary, I'm going to list seven things that happened during my lost four months. It's longer than my normal posts, but since I'll be out of town for a few days, feel free to read in shifts!

1. I joined The Gym. Really, that's what the gym in Oneonta is called: The Gym. I joined with a friend, and wheedled my way into a good deal via a long-term, prepaid, early-hours contract. I can't say I've lost any weight, but I feel in better shape. I'm getting to know my friend a lot better too, since we gab for about four hours a week more than we used to.

2. I thought I'd found a diamond.People with a five-carat diamonds don't shop at Wal-Mart, I suppose, but I was momentarily dazed by the karmic thrill of it all. My mother lost her engagement ring stone over 40 years ago, and I imagined it had returned, with interest! Turned out to be only a cubic zirconia though, drat. Here is how you tell the difference. I couldn't read a newspaper through the CZ, and was already dreamily wondering how long the police would have to hold it before it was deemed unclaimed. The dot test worked like a charm, though. Like a big, balloon-bursting charm.

3. The garden refused to bend to my will. Again.I had fun with the Zinnia experiment though. I got a late start, and Powdery Mildew crept in when we left town for a week. The grass got way out of control, as usual. Somehow I still managed to grow a few flowers to donate to Hospice. Maybe next year I will finally have my act together enough to get them there throughout the blooming season.

4. I won a major award.Because I could remember the Alabama state bird, mammal, fossil, etc., when an emergency preparedness expert spoke to our wildflower group. OK, the award wasn't really all that major, but I basked in the egghead trivia glow anyway. Then a guy even more pointy-headed than me whined that my answer of "some kind of whale" to "What is the state dinosaur?" wasn't up to par. "The Basilosaurus cetoides is the state fossil, not dinosaur!" he moaned. I hugged my MRE and ran out of the meeting room.

5. We let Anatoli go. He'd developed a lump that we decided may have been from improper nutrition or insufficient sunlight. Since he was wild-born, we figured he'd fare better on his own. We saw an unusually high number of anoles this fall, but I was never sure if any of them were Anatoli.

6. I had to wait in line to vote!There were all of four people in front of us when we arrived at our polling place. An elderly couple let us cut in front of them though, since the man was still searching his wallet for ID. There were a few local issues on the ballot so turnout was very high. The tallies from my precinct, not exactly what you'd call a democratic stronghold, included:Obama 45, McCain 450Figures 52, Sessions 442 (US Senate race)Tag fee increase: Yes 59, No 392Wet/Dry referendum: Yes (Wet): 226, No: 270The ratios for the whole county were similar. I still haven't figured out how Vivian Figures, a State Senator from Mobile, received more votes than Obama. Most people in north Alabama weren't even familiar with her. I read that her budget was $22,000; the incumbent Sessions spent multi-millions. (I have loved her ever since I read that she was able to get the outdated, misogynistic Alabama State Senate dress code changed... the one that said women couldn't wear pant suits or slacks on the Senate floor!)We needed the tag fee increase ($15), which would have gone strictly towards road maintenance. I had a feeling it wouldn't pass, but I was surprised at the resounding defeat.I'm glad we stayed a dry county. I wouldn't mind alcohol sales in stores or restaurants, but didn't want a bar across the street from us. Rural counties don't have a lot of regulations, so it could have been a real possibility.

7. Alabama football, woohoo!I had to say that before we play Auburn and Georgia Florida, just in case.

Welcome back! You sure don't want a bar across the street...there are plenty like that around here. (I think a lot of drunks and bar owners figure DUI odds are better on county roads, but no.) I used to keep anoles, and they did fare a lot better when the cage was in a sunny window. (As long as they had a shady spot available.) Same was true for green iguanas. I raised a beautiful specimen to 4 feet before I donated him to a zoo. (I knew the reptile keeper would handle and continue to spoil him properly.) Fred had the most gorgeous turquoise coloring on his head.

A 5 carat diamond! Wow . . . (Check you local grocery store for Faygo. If you can't find one, I'll bring you one to the January meeting. They can be very sweet, which is probably why the youngin' loves it! :) haha)

(Psst: When I clicked on your sig in the Toad comment string, I ended up at something called blogpost.com. Is typo?)

Damn viruses anyway, as well as the more annoying sorts of fungi. We usually can't do much with zinnias here, wither, because the fog makes powdery mildew very happy. Too bad nobody wants a bouquet of powdery mildew...

I'm back, and realized that I meant to say Florida instead of Georgia in mentioning the last 2 football games. D'oh! I think I had GA on the brain since that's where I was going.

Beedancer, no, Fl has had their turn, it's our turn now! :)

Meg, thanks, I don't think we need one now but I'll ask hubby. I love both of the Chinese restaurants in Oneonta. :) I always thought that the Panda Restaurant's sign only had room for "Panda Rest" and I would always call it that. Hubby takes it one step further (he can't ever call anything by its correct name) and calls it the Panda Breath.

Thimbelle, yeah I know what you mean. If I'd had a real diamond of that size to compare it to, I guess I'd have seen right away that it wasn't real. :)

Lisa, you have a green thumb in more ways than one, it seems!

KatieB, yeah wouldn't that have been nice?! Oh well, easy come, easy go. :) I will have to look for Faygo next time I'm at the store.

Thanks Gail!

Thanks Ron, yeah, typos-R-us, sorry. The Zinnias did pretty good until around the first of September.

About Me

Living in rural north central Alabama. Currently overstocked with pets and poultry. Having lived in several small towns and larger cities, country life is taking some getting used to.
A refugee from the corporate world since 1996, I'm the proprietor of a handmade soap company called Natural Impulse.
The photo is of Jasmine, fearless protector of the homestead from coyotes, bobcats, deer, herons, airplanes, butterflies and fuzzy little bunnies.
You can email me at blog (at) naturalimpulse.com.